Avatar: the Last Timebender
by Elise Maria
Summary: 1,000 years after the Gaang's adventures, two new bending forms have surfaced, one of which is threatening the balance of the world. The first timebending avatar is called upon to travel back in time to unlock the secrets to saving the world.
1. Prologue

_**Basic Summary:One thousand years after the Gaang's adventures, a newer advanced form of bending is introduced to the world. After one thousand years passed, the newer art form is so advanced that out of it came one of the most lethal bending forms, Spacebending.A type of bending that can literally bend the space around them, turning fire hydrants and pretty much anything else into horrible monsters capapble of destroying entirecities. Now that the Spacebenders are plotting to take over and shape the world in their image, what will the the first timebending avatar do to be sure that the world is balanced and all six nations are all of equal power?Also, please be nice if you comment, because English really isn't my first language and some of the grammer and sentence structure is probably incorrect, and this is also my first , just a warning, the first and half of the second chapter is kind of boring, and really doesn't contain vital info, and it mainly an Avatar:The Last Airbender characters don't belong to me, no matter how much I wish they did. I also don't own the ideas of avatar the last airbender. .**_

\\Prologue//_The sun shined down on the small fire nation village. It was an average day, the people buzzing around tending to their basic needs and greeds. Noazi Heng-Kan, one of the best known firebending masters at the time, meditated under a tree, his thoughts questioning new ways in which to improve his bending. New ways to allow him, out of all firebenders, to be the most powerful._

_Noazi was an old man, with a short, grey beard. He had barely any hair left on his head, and to hide it he wore a small, bowl-shaped red hat. Today he wore his best robes, as he wanted to look nice when he finally made his great break-through in bending methods. He'd been studying firebending since he could remember, and had even tought some of new century's firebending masters. He had even taught the Avatar, Dakada, a waterbender with great power, and the reincarnation of the world's most honorable of Avatars, Avatar Aang._

_ It was as he thought of his success that he came to a revelation. Firebenders gain their ability from the sun. The sun is the center of the solar system, Noazi knew this. Although, the sun was seen more as a celestial body by most, rather than something made by nature that existed in the billions. . His studies in astronomy began to surface,and he began to think about other forces of nature and space that contribute to the formation of bending. In his meditation, he could clearly see how connecting something that firebenders were very much capable of, redirecting lighting, and how combining it, in a way, with space, time, and firebending could easily create a new bending method, and he decided to try it. He stood up, slowly, standing their for a few seconds to gather his thoughts, and with a swift, spining motion, and a fast flick-of-the wrist, a butterfly that had been hovering above a firelily hung, paused, in mid air. All around Noazi, the world had stopped in it's tracks. Noazi took a step back, in awe at what he had done. The world stood silent. There was no sound, no air, no tweeting of birds. This scared Noazi, and he released his hold on the world. Gasping and clutching his chest, as the new art had taken much out of him, he realized what he had just accomplished. He had just invented timebending._


	2. Chapter 1: Happy Avatar Day!

**Okay, so this is a chapter that's sort of boring, but don't fret, the next few chapters will be pretty good, I promise! Review and comments, please!**

**_Chapter 1: Happy Avatar Day!_**

Ling-Mei threw a pillow over her head as the blaring sound of her alarm clock screamed into her ear. She reached her hand out and felt around for the button to turn the alarm off. After finding it and turning off the piercing sound. She warily removed the pillow from her head and looked into the mirror directly across from her bed. It was sort of a habit she had developed, as she could usually tell how cooperative her hair will be in the morning depending how bad her bed-hair was. This morning, however, her long brown hair seemed straight as ever, and her face had surprisingly cleared up since last night, leaving her pale skin smooth and soft looking.

Her room was filled with so much sunlight that morning that she knew she wouldn't be able to get any sleep if she tried, but she layed her head back down on her pillow nonetheless. She thought for a moment, Perhaps I could bend time just a bit and go back to 4 am.... but she dismissed it as soon as the thought crossed her mind. Bending time in that manner was illegal.

The problem with being a timebender was that, although you had so much power, you could never use it. It messed with the balance of things, disrupted lives, changed history, etc. Ling-Mei was a timebender, and a very powerful one at that. She could do a few things that a lot of other benders couldn't. She could create timebubbles around certain things. In this respect, she could pause a rabbit in mid-jump without stopping the entire world in it's tracks. Another trick she had invented herself, was pausing air. By doing so, the air became solid, allowing her to step into the sky, creating a hovering illusion.

Although most people wouldn't have thought such things possible, even timebending masters, Ling-Mei always tried to think outside of the box, and a lot of her techniques came from dreams she had, or books she'd read. And even if she showed the council of time, or the timebending masters her skills, she would just be arrested anyways. or hauled off by the country's bending army to teach them in my ways so that they could become more powerful.

Ling-Mei's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her father's scoff as he leaned against the frame of her door. She had barely noticed his presence and sat up immediately, alarmed. "What?" she said, still half-asleep. Her father smirked. "You do realize you don't have school today, right?"

Ling-Mei's vision became clearer and she stared at her tall, stick of a father in confusion, "what? why?" she asked, hopping out of bed. "Avatar day." he said, simply. Ling-Mei raised an eyebrow, "We've never gotten Avatar day off before...."

Her father smiled, "this year it's different. Timebenders finally made their way into the avatar cycle, evidently." Ling-Mei's mouth dropped in awe, "Are you serious! We're finally- Oh wow, Dad! This is so awesome!" she smiled, and jumped into the air. "This means that Timebenders would finally be recognized as an element!"

Her dad laughed, "Alright then, calm down Lin!" he said, using her nickname, "Well, I'm off, I need to go set up for the festivities. I bought some more cereal. Once you're done eating, come to town, they announce the Avatar at twelve." With that, Ling-Mei's father turned and left.

Ling-Mei did a short, excited dance and went to her closet to find something to wear. Seeing as the new Avatar was timebender, she decided to go with the country colours of light blue and deep purple. She pulled out her lightest blue pants and a light blue scarf she planned to use as a headband, and a deep purple t-shirt that she had gotten from school a while back.

She straightened her room up a bit, packing some stuff in her purse and went to the kitchen for her breakfast. She opened the cupboard to find some Flame-Flakes cereal.A popular breakfast cereal originating in the Fire Nation, that was extremely spicy.

Pooring herself a bowl she sat down in front of the small tv they kept in the kitchen and flipped it on as she ate.

"Avatar day is a festival that goes on every year, and every few decades there is one year in particular when they announce the newest avatar. This year, however, is truly even more special then that, isn't it Khani?" The announcer-man, Rae Fujioto said, as the screen moved over to his assistant, a rather thin woman with dyed blonde hair. "Why yes it Rae, a special year indeed! This is the first time in history that we have a timebending avatar!

Ling-Mei's attention was diverted from the television screen as someone knocked on the front door of the household. She got up throwing her bowl of Flame-Flakes into the sink as she made her way to the door. She barely opened the door a crack when it was pushed open by a strong hand. "Hey!" Ling-Mei said, as the door was forced open to reveal a tall, strong young man with a mess of curly black hair. "Ling!"Kohnai exclaimed, hugging Ling-Mei tightly. "Come on, Jin and Myan are waiting for us in the car, we're gonna go check out the festival." Ling-Mei smiled, hugging him back. Kohnai was Ling-Mei's best friend, and the only guy she'd really ever liked. There was always just something about the way he looked at her, and spoke when he was around her that made her swoon. "Alright, let me just grab my bag and I'll be right there."

Ling-Mei went back to the kitchen, grabbing her bag and flipping off the television just as Rae said, "They announce the new avatar in thirty minutes!" She made her way outside, to her friend's car, and they were off, unknowing that those few moments would possibly be the last with Ling-Mei, or at least, the Ling-Mei the knew and loved.


	3. Chapter 2: Bearer of Destined News

_**\\Chapter 2// Bearer of Destined News**_

Ling-Mei and her small gang of friends managed to wedge their way into the traffic that clogged up the roads to the festival. With ten minutes till the announcing of the new Avatar, Ling-Mei worried they would not make it. "Guys, what if we turned right up here and went around the block, we could park at my dad's shop and run to the fest?" she suggested, pointing out the turn.

Jin, a short, tough looking girl with frizzy brown hair, was the driver. She had a sweet voice, which always tended to amuse Myan, Ling-Mei, and Kohnai when they were driving (as Jin made it a habit to curse at everyone in her way). "Move it, you stupid Mooselion!" Jin yelled, as she tried to merge over into another lane to get to the turn. "Hey!" Myan said, "Mooslion's aren't stupid!"

"Oh yeah, then why are they going extinct?" Kohnai smirked, just as Jin was able to make the turn. She went around the block, which was surprisingly clear compared to the rest of the streets, and turned ito the parking lot to Ling-Mei's Dad's herb shop. Finding a parking space was extremely easy if you parked there, because they sadly didn't get a lot of buisness. "Okay, everyone out! We need to hustle!" Jin said, climbing out as she grabbed her bag. Myan, who was a pretty tall, lanky girl with dazzling grey eyes and black hair, chuckled, "Did you seriously just say 'Hustle'?" Jin rolled her eyes and started off in a sprint torwards the event.

Ling-Mei, being an athletic, strong-built girl of average hight, knew she'd probably be able to beat her friends there is she started off in a jog, and got faster as she went along. Kohnai, being the lazy guy that he was, simply walked, not caring who the heck this new avatar was. Although Ling-Mei didn't know it, Kohnai, who was also a pretty powerful timebender, made it a habit to break the laws of time, and if he had actually wanted to beat them, he would simply stop time for a few seconds and get ahead of them, but he knew that in a city full of fellow timebenders, such an illegal move would not go unnoticed. Particularly on a crowded day such as this.

The festivities that took place seemed like any other, aside from different stall commemorating all the past avatars, and other stalls in which children were gathered around, watching as a storyteller told stories or a puppetmaster put on a show. Ling-Mei always felt oddly drawn to one stall every year. This stall was of the previous avatar, Shueng-Li of the air nomads. He had come about to distill peace amongst the Spacebenders, a seriously vile group of people with much power who, today, still wished to wipe out all of the 'inferior' benders.

Spacebenders were simply a much more advanced form of timebenders. Instead of breaking the laws of time, they break the scientific laws of matter. They are able to take, let's say, a normal human being and give them the face of a turtleduck. They are able to take a clump of dirt and turn it into diamonds. They can even take any piece of matter and destroy it, by means that bypass all scientific reasoning. They are, as the 'inferior' benders say, cruel and power-hungry, and have been seeking to wage war since the first of their kind evolved.

This had evidently been the discussion going on between a customer and the Shueng-Li stall vendor as Ling-Mei reached it. "Hello, Syue, how's buisness?" Ling-Mei said, just as the customer left. Syue nodded, her bob-cut black hair bouncing with the movement. "Good, good Ling-Mei! Nice to see you out here today, though I shouldn't be surprised as you grace me with your presence every year!" Syue said, grinning widely. "Oh, and do I have something for you! You don't even have to buy it, it's a gift this year!" She reached down and pulled up something covered in cloth. "I bought this last year, and it's authentic, I thought you might enjoy it! They were selling it, the nomads were, for a cheap price too! Said they had no use of it anymore." she uncovered the object, to reveal a small toy, clad in armor and holding an air staff. "What it is?" Ling-Mei asked, reaching out to hold it. She felt an odd sensation, as if the old action figure was drawing her towards itself.. Syue handed it to her,"Oh, you like it? It was one Avatar Shuen-Li's favorite toys as a child. An air warrior monk. Sold it to me for one gold peice they did." Ling-Mei couldn't peel her eyes off the toy, as if she was fascinated by its very existence. "Thank you, Syue, this is...amazing, and very kind of you!" She looked up to the woman, who still kept a warm smile, just as the announcer on the stage a few stalls away came on.

"Hello citizens of the Country of Time. I am here to inform you that we will, in three minutes, be announcing the avatar. Before this,however, we are going to begin the opening ceremony by introducing the council of time and the keepers of time."

As the man spoke the names of the people, Ling-Mei watched them head up there one by one. First the council, then the keepers. The keepers, which were fairly new as far as Ling-Mei had heard in school, were dressed in long, deep-purple robes that dragged across the stage, and wore light-blue, bowl shaped hats. Jin, Myan, and Kohnai managed to catch up with Ling-Mei just as the introductions stopped. "Hey!" Kohnai said, punching Ling-Mei gently on the arm. "Hey, Ling, check out what I got the the Avatar Aang booth- A flying bison doll! Isn't it cute!" Jin said, wrapping her arms around the odd-looking plush toy. Sadly, Flying Bison no longer existed, having gone extinct once Avatar Aang's companion died from old age. "Oh yeah, and Myan got a neat Kiyoshi warrior face paint set, and a fan. What did you get?" Ling-Mei, who hadn't been paying attention to her friends suddenly broke from her daze at the question. "Huh, what? Oh, a Warrior Monk Nomad doll from Syue at the Shueng-Li booth." she said, looking back down at the old doll.

"Ugly old thing." Jin muttered, "Why'd you buy it?" Myan looked at her in annoyance. Ling-Mei shrugged, "I don't think it's ugly. In a way, I kind of feel...ok look, it was a gift, and I like it!" she put it in her bag, and looked back up at the stage as one of the keepers went up to the mic. As he began to speak I noticed my dad wave to me in the crowd, he was closer to the stage. "Come on guys!" I said, making my way over to him. Around him were a few military people, probably there for security reasons. "Hey honey, hope your ready." her dad said, with a smile that saidhe was telling her something she did not yet know about.

Ling-Mei's friends stared up anxiously at the stage, and Ling-Mei joined the anxious stares. "I am pleased to announce that, for the first time in history, we have a timebending avatar. The avatar can bend five elements, and will travel to the past and be trained by those who had mastered the elements far beyond the level at which we can master them today. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the time of Avatar Ling-Mei Meung."

With those few words, everything around Ling-Mei seemed to slow down. For all she knew, it could actually be slowing down. Me, the...the avatar? No wonder I was drawn to that stupid doll! Ling-Mei's breathing became heavy, and she barely noticed the stares and bows that came from the people infront of her. She didn't even notice as she was escorted to the stage and handed the mic to speak. Within seconds, everything went black, but she was somewhat aware of herself, if it was even her, speaking with the voices of thousands and thousands of people.

To Kohnai, Jin, and Myan, the girl on stage speaking was not their friend, but a person of power. He eyes glowed as she spoke to the world.

"I am the Avatar and I will serve this country well, I will serve this world well. I will restore what balance you have lost." and with a sharp gust of wing everything was over. Ling-Mei collapsed, her head pounding, leaving her vaguely aware of what had just happened.

It was now time, that she prepared for the danger she would soon face.


	4. Chapter 3: Wakey Wakey, Eggs and Bakey

\\Chapter 3//

Ling-Mei awoke in an unfamiliar place, filled with the smell of roses and the sounds of a waterfall. Outside of the room she was in, which was unbearably bright, she could hear a commotion going on. It seemed, from what she could hear, quite a few people were trying to get into a room, which was obviously being blocked off by other people.

Ling-Mei stood up and made her way, drowsily towards the door to see what was going on. She began to open it, only to be met by the back of a man dressed in camouflage. The man turned his head back to see what had opened the door and smiled quickly, "Don't worry miss, we got it under control!" he picked up a walkie talkie and told someone that she was awake just as she retreated back into the room.

It hit her then, what had happened. She walked over to the bed, and sat down before she lost balance_. I'm the Avatar... _she thought, placing her face in her hands. _And...up there...I...I went into the avatar state. I'm going to travel back in time and.... _she wasn't sure whether to be thrilled or scared.

Thoughts rushed at her, each crashing into her brain like water hitting rocks at full force. She would need to be cautious, as she could change history in a heartbeat. She wouldn't be able to interact with anyone. She'd be stuck for months with nothing to do but master the elements. If she did interact with anyone, although she was certain they were going to timebend her into a peaceful time,she knew it could have such effects that her, her friends,anyone for that matter might not exist in her present, or she could wind up dead...or...or....the possibilities were endless.

As she stressed over everything that could go wrong in traveling to the past, she had forgotten for a few seconds that the whole reason for her traveling was the fact that she was the avatar, the most powerful being in the world. She remembered this burden immediately as one of the keepers made his way into the room. "Avatar Ling-Mei! I greet you with the most humble of respects!" he said, as the noise from the hallway died down. "Oh please. I'm not some frigin-" Ling-Mei sighed, "Well...I guess I am kinda." She hopped up and paced as the keeper picked himself up. "Yes well, we shall send you off at noon today. They sent me to breif you on what you are to do." He straightened out his robes and walked over that stood beside the bed Ling-Mei had slept in. He picked up a few peices of paper and slipped a pair of glasses on. "Breif me?" Ling-Mei asked, "This isn't some military mission...I'm the avatar...I.." tears welled up in her violet eyes. "Do I atleast get a chance to say bye to my friends?"

The keeper smiled, "Of course, but it's not like you're going off on some grand, five-year adventure! You'll only be there a month, by which time we expect you to have been able to figure out a way to find your way back." Ling-Mei stopped crying, and stared at the man. "One month, you're giving me one month to travel around a feudal world in which I must master the other four elements?" she eyed him with distaste.

"Please Avatar-" The keeper soothed, but Ling-Mei would have none of it and cut him off. "Stop calling me that!" The man sighed, tugging on his long, grey beard. He waited for Ling-Mei to calm down before beginning again. "It is what you are, now would you please take a seat and listen?"

Ling-Mei did as she was told and sat down on the edge of bed as the keeper began to brief her. "You will master them in this order- Water, Earth, Air, and then Fire, is that clear?" Ling-Mei nodded. "Now, we have typed up a schedule for your month, as well as how a regular day should be for you." the keeper handed her the list and peered down at the few papers left in his hands. "We will be sending you four-hundred years after time-bending was created. You are to speak with no one aside from your masters, who have been informed of this by a few keepers we sent back a day before the day you'll be arriving, and we wish you the best. We will give you three hours to pack your things, also,do not pack anything of advanced technologies. This means no MP3 players, cell phones, video games, and the like. Books, prehaps a flashlight and a few batteries are about the extent of the technologies you can bring."

Before Ling-Mei could protest, the keeper left, and the noise in the hallway heightened as he exited the room. Ling-Mei looked down at herself to see that she was wearing a white nightgown, courtesy of the keepers themselves. She looked around and saw a pair of fresh clothes, which looked extremely old fashioned, and the clothes she had picked out that morning. Had it been that morning? Ling-Mei wondered, as she slipped the clothes on. The thought of how long she was out struck her, but washed away instantly. It didn't matter whether or not she had gotten dressed that morning, or yesterday morning. All that mattered now was seeing her friends and packing her bags.


	5. Chapter 4: 88 Miles per Hour

\\Chapter 4//

Ling-Mei opened the door after grabbing her purse and yanked on the military man's uniform. "Excuse me, I would like to be uh..." she looked out at the crowd that struggled to get just a glimpse of the avatar. "escorted to my home to pack."

The man nodded right away and picked up his walkie-talkie, saying something into it that Ling-Mei could barely hear. Within seconds, two men dressed in deep purple suits made their way through the crowd and made room for Ling-Mei to exit the room. They walked through the crowd, the guards pushing away the people so as to give her enough room to walk. Ling-Mei felt embarrassed by the attention she was getting from all these people, particularly with the questions they were asking. "Ling-Mei! How do you feel about being the avatar?" "Ling-Mei, what element are you planning on mastering first" Everything was"Ling-Mei" this, or "Ling-Mei" that. Well, Ling-Mei had just been introduced to this new life of being a celebrity, and she already disliked it.

After being driven in a stretch limo to her home, Ling-Mei raced up to the door and made her way inside, practically slamming the door shut behind her. She let out a breath of releif and looked up to see her father looking at her with a peculiar face. He smirked, raising one eyebrow. "Glad to be away from all the rucus?" he asked. Beside him, where there was a small sofa and a footstool, lay what looked like to bags. One large and one small, obviously for carrying around on a daily basis. "What's that?" Ling-Mei asked, moving out of the doorway.

Her father looked confused for a moment then looked to where she was pointing. "Oh! The keepers dropped them off this morning. It's where your stuff will be going. A few things are already packed, some old style stuff." He picked up one bag and opened it to look in it then gave it to her. "Old style stuff?" Ling-Mei asked, digging through the tan, cloth hand bag. She pulled out a small, leather-bound notbook and a brush, as well as a bottle of ink, "Oh."

She put the bag down and took the big bag with a sigh. "This is really it, huh? Everything's going to change from now on." She plopped down on the footstool and her dead knealt down beside her, brushing a strand of loose, black hair from her face. "Oh, sweetie. I know it's hard, but...think about it! We won't have to worry about paying the bills anymore, and you'll finally be that super-hero you wanted to be when you were little!"

Ling-Mei smiled, but kept her head down. "But I kinda liked the way things were."she wished she could say, but she knew only too well the stresses her father had gone through after his divorce with her mother. "I guess you're right. I'm going to go pack a few things, okay?" she said, getting up. Her father got up as well and nodded , retreating to the kitchen. Ling-Mei went down the hall and entered her room. It wasn't a large, extravegant room, nor was it small and dirty. It was just right, atleast for Ling-Mei. It was obvious the room belonged to a teenage girl, as posters of bands and famous bending masters hung among her walls, and clothes accumulated on her floor.

The clothes, she dug through, contained mostly modern clothing articles, so she decided to go to her closet, picking out all the skirts, as well as a pair of combat boots. If she remembered correctly, people wore those in the time period she assumed she was going to. She also found a nice costume that would fit into the time period. It was a velvet colored vest, that went down to her knees and split at the sides, and under it you were supposed to wear this tight suit like thing that was black. She put the items in the bigger bag and looked back at her desk. There, among a few cd's, her MP3 player, and her laptop, was a picture of her and her family when her parents were still together. They stood outside of her father's shop, and held flowers of different kinds. She picked up the photograph, and stuffed it in as well. She knew something like that might be prohibited, but if they asked she was pretty sure she could talk them into letting her have it. Her MP3 player, however, she'd have to hide. She put it in her bag as well.

She looked around for any more items she'd like to bring. Of course, she packed certain necessities, but those went in her smaller bag, along with her wallet.

"Alright!" Ling-Mei announced, "It's all packed!" she knealt down beside her smaller bag, putting away a few things, and stood up. She wore no smile on her face, no trace that she was releived to be done packing and off to study the elements. Her father came out of the kitchen and leaned against the doorway, his hands in his pockets. "Alrighty. I guess I should take you to the temple, huh?" He said, grabbing his keys. Ling-Mei nodded and turned around to grab her bags. She slung the bigger one over her shoulder and the smaller one over the other.

Her father opened the front door for her, and instead of being greeted with the crowd she'd surprisingly been expecting, she was met with a friendly silence. The limozine had left, but the guards still stood watch outside the door, and followed her to her fathers car. They took her bags, and opened the door for her as she climbed into the back seat. One of the guards, the bigger one, sat in the drivers seat, and my dad climbed into the passenger's side as if it were routine.

They drove in silence, and when they arrove at the temple all the chaos swam back at her. Reporters were there, trying to grab pictures. Children with their parents who gawked at her as if they had just seen their favorite super-hero standing infront of them. Luckily, the guards managed to keep anyone from surging at her and she had a little more room to breathe. She made it inside the large, marble-made temple and was in awe.

At the center of the entry room, stood a giant clock, and surrounding it were doors engraved with the marks of the other four nations. Her father, wearing the same expression, whistles beside her, and the sound echoed throughout the temple. As if on que, a keeper appeared from the one doorway not marked by any special symbols. "Amazing isn't it? This temple was built long ago, in hopes that one day we, as timebenders, would be able to have an avatar of our own. Now, by the clock is where you will stand, and-" he looked at her clothes. "Oh no no no, you aren't wearing the clothes we gave you, do you have them?"

Ling-Mei shook her head, "No, but there was an identical outfit in the bag, should I go change?" The keeper nodded, "The restroom is in a room behind the clock, you may change in there, Avatar." Ling-Mei nodded, and put her bags down to dig through them. She got the clothing and went to the restroom, a few minutes later she came back, and shoved her clothes into her bag.

The clothes she wore now were surprisingly comfortable. The top was similar to her longer vest, but was instead a dark shade of purple and had a more kimono-like look. Under it she wore a long, loose blue skirt. Although you could not see her feet, she still wore a pair of beautiful, decorated sandals that were surprisingly heavy. "What time are you sending me to?" she asked, looking down at her clothes. The keeper smiled, "That should've been on your schedule, but we are sending you into the years following Avatar Dakada's death." My father looked at me and smiled. He was about to say something when the rest of the keepers joined them in the main room. "Good day, Avatar!" said the one leading them. The one who had come out to greet us earlier went and joined them. "Please, please, take your place, Avatar."

Ling-Mei grabbed her bags and looked back at her dad, who gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. She was frightened of traveling so far back in time, or for that matter, traveling at all. In school, when they taught her some basic things she could do with her timebending gift, the farthest they were allowed to travel back in time during demonstrations was one minute. She had no idea what it was like to travel nine-hundred years back, let alone one!

Sighing heavily, Ling-Mei walked torwards the center of the circle the keepers were forming. "Do not worry, Ling-Mei, we will be transporting you there together." one of them whispered.

Ling-Mei turned around and smiled at her dad. He smiled back and she could've sworn she saw tears welling in his eyes. The keepers raised there hands, and with a flick of their wrists and loud POP of air displacing itself, Ling-Mei was gone, back in another time in which there were only four nations, and the basic foundations for time-bending were just being formed.


	6. Chapter 5: Scorching Time

I do not own the T.V. show Avatar the Last Airbender or any of it's characters and events!

\\Chapter 5//

Coldness overcame Ling-Mei as centuries flew by her. She saw small events unfold, some awe-inspiring, some disturbing. She closed her eyes and counted the seconds as the chill one got when time-traveling grew until it was almost freezing. Opening them again, she saw she was still falling. The century she was supposed to have fallen to already having passed. Ling-Mei tried to grasp onto a nearby year, but her hands slipped and she kept on falling. She twisted around in her little tunnel of travel to see a light rishing at her full force. It was the time that she was heading for, and as it neared, she let out a quiet scream and it was all over.

Ling-Mei landed on the cold ground quite badly, bruising her wrist. She pushed herself up in discomfort, and looked around. _What the heck? _she thought as she took in her surroundings. She, instead of being in the cold, water tribe court yard she had been expecting, stood in the middle of a large, endless forest of trees and rocks. She dug through her bag in a hurry, looking for her papers when a sudden sound of movement stopped her. She looked up, closing her bag and looked around. "Hello?" she said, glancing around quickly. In response, a twig snapped behind her and as she twisted around she saw a dark shape dart away. "Hello?!" she said again, her breathing becoming shallow.

Again, she heard a noise from behind her, but as she turned she felt a hand come over her head and put itself over her mouth and eyes. She tried to scream but was only met by a "Quiet, peasent!" the boy, she found by the voice, was dragging her foward. She kicked and pulled, and finally started to dig her chin down into the person's arm until she broke free. She turned, and in fighting stance, faced her attacker.

It was not one, but three men, all dressed in ancient fire nation clothing. "Oh, so the girls got some fight in her?" the boy in the middle, who had a gap in his two front teeth and a mess of brown hair, said. The two behind him went in for her again, "your coming with us to the firenation camp! We get payed good if we bring in intruders!" the gap-toothed boy said. "What?!" Ling-Mei shouted, just as the bigger guy to her left made a grab for her. She dodged, but the boy to her right, who was thin and dark looking jabbed a spear to her side. She managed to dodge it just as the gaped-tooth boy shouted, "Intruder!"

Within moments, the area was surrounded by older men dressed in ancient, firenation clothing. Ling-Mei stared in horror, as she was in the center of them all. The boy went up to one of the men, "She attacked us. " he said, and before she knew it the men were throwing flames at her, and stabbing their weapons at her sides. She dodged most of the attacks with a great amount of effort, but as she found her way out of the circle of violence, a spear came flying towards her, grazing her side. It continued foward until planting itself in a tree, but not before doing some damage.

Ling-Mei screamed but held back tears as she kept on. She put her hands to her side, and applied pressure, her eyes watering. She took one hand away and looked at it. It was bleeding horribly. She tripped on a root, distracted by the blood. Taking deep breaths, she stayed there for a moment before picking herself up at the sound of more movement.

By now, she estimated, she was atleast two miles away from the camp. She'd been running for twenty mintues in a distracted, dizzying rush. She doubted they could have followed her with all that armor, especially since when she had ran off, they were still battling with what they thought was her. She quieted her breathing, and hid behind a tree opposite the way she came, and slid down it. She touched her wound again and looked at the blood. The amount of it was increasing. She closed her eyes and dropped her hand. _This is it. This is where I die. Hundreds of years before I was even born, and I'm going die. _She thought.

* * *

Zuko had been awoken that night by a rustling in the trees. He sat up, propping himself onto his elbow. "Who's there?" he asked, and without an immediate answer, hew threw a warning flame out, "Stay back!".

All of sudden, the ground shook a bit, and he saw a peice of earth rise defensivley, "It's me!" came a small, scared voice. The voice of the blind earthbender that the avatar traveled with. Then, Zuko heard her gasp in shock, "Ow!" One of the flames had licked rubbed his eyes and looked at the girl in shock, as she dropped her earth sheild. "You burned my feet!" she yelled at him. "I'm sorry! It was a mistake!" Zuko said, defensivley as he got up and ran towards her. But the blind earthbender backed away, afraid. "Get away from me!" she yelled, turning around and crawling back into the woods, throwing rocks at Zuko as she went. Zuko dodged the miniature boulders with quick, swift movements until he got closer to the girl, "Let me help you!" he pleaded.

If he did help her, it might earn him some points with the Avatar, he knew this. But if he didn't, she would return with burns and tell them all about how evil prince Zuko burned her feet and all hope for him would be lost, and the avatar would never find a firebending teacher in time. Zuko paniced, "I'm sorry!" he said, again, reaching his arm out to the girls shoulder. "Get off me!" she flailed, turning around. With a qucik movement of her wrists, a giant column of rock jutted right out of the ground, making Zuko become airborne. He landed on the ground, and after a breif second of regaining some air he said, "I didn't know it was you!" he touched his side, which was sore and grunted. He looked up to see the girl retreating. Desperetly, he reached out a hand, "Come back!" he begged, but the girl was gone.

He layed back down and shouted in absolute frustration, "Why am I so bad at being good?!"

His words were accompanied by a scream, but not of the earthbending girl's. Zuko bolted upright, releived of his rage, but now scared. He, and the avatar's little group weren't alone in that neck of the woods. He got up, and cringed at the bruising pain in his side. He put out his fire and started for the woods, holding a small flame of light in his hands.

He did not have to search long to find the source of the noise. A few feet away from him, sat a girl that was maybe an inch shorter than him , with long hair (he could not make out the color) and pale skin. Her clothes were of an odd color, or atleast the skirt she wore which was light blue, but it was tainted with a red substance. Zuko squinted, trying to see what the substance was until he almost facepalmed himself. The substance was blood, she was injured. He took a cautious step, or atleast he meant too, but under his weight a small twig snapped, so he decided to go ahead and speak.

* * *

"Who did that you?" came a voice. The voice was a bit raspy, and obviously belonged to a teenager. Ling-Mei opened her eyes, her vision slurred. She could barely make out the outline of the boy, "get...away from me!" she shouted, standing up and flailing. Her vision became a bit more steady and she stopped, taking a step back. The boy, who she assumed was going to attack her, was only an inch or so taller than her, with what she and her friends would call "emo hair". The most striking thing about the boy though, was the scar that covered his right eye. He had his hands up defensivley, "Hey, I was trying to help!" he said.

That's when Ling-Mei noticed his clothing. Firenation. "No..." she said, her breathing heavy, "No, you're firenation. What time am I in?" she shook her head, the last part of her speech obviously not directed towards him. "You're delusional, it's from blood loss, come on." He tried to slide an arm around her, but Ling-Mei protested, shoving him off and she tried to turn around but as she did her vision spun once more. She slumped against the side of the tree, and her head fell forward. "Ughhh.." she muttered. The boy tried once more to slide his arm under hers, but she had no energy to fight back this time, and he began walking.

"So who did that to you?" the boy asked again. Ling-Mei looked up at him and looked away, closing her eyes from the dizziness. She could not tell him. What if it was this boy's destiny to die by the hands of those cretins, and what if she told him and it didn't happen? How would that effect history. Her father had once told her, "the reason time travel, Ling-Mei, is illegal, is because one person could travel centuries into the past, kill a butterfly, come back, and the world might now have any more butterflies."

"I....tripped on something....metal...." Ling-Mei said. She could not see the boy's face at that moment, but he looked skeptical. A few minutes later, they arrived into a small, hidden clearing in the woods. The boy let her down and lifted his hand. From his fingertips arose a great heat, and with a sudden [i]woosh[/i], flames shot from them to a small fire pit in the center of the small clearing. It was a camp. The boy again, took Ling-Mei, but this time put her near the fire. "Lay down, I'm going to put some bandages on it." the boy did so, going back to his tent and coming back with a few strips of white cloth. "What's your name....?" Ling-Mei asked, eying the boy with tired eyes. The boy stopped what he was seemed to hesitate a bit before saying, "Zuko." He went back to what he was doing, as if embarrassed.

Ling-Mei stared at him, or atleast she tried to. Where had she heard his name before? "So, are you going to tell me your name?" he, Zuko, asked. Ling-Mei snapped out of her thoughts at his questioned and responded as if unsure of what she was saying had even pretained to the question. "Ling-Mei. My name is Ling-Mei."

Zuko looked back at her, "Ling-Mei. Sounds like a Nomad name." Ling-Mei blinked, "Yeah, my great grandpa or somethin' was....." she took a few shallow breaths and didn't finish her sentence. Within a few moments, Ling-Mei fell asleep, and that night's events placed themselves at the back of her mind. She had no idea the adventures that awaited her in the morning, nor the reasons behind Zuko's helping her.


End file.
